How to get the Magnum-inspired Forerunner exotic in Destiny 2

The name of the Destiny 2 Forerunner exotic weapon should pique the interest of any Halo fan. Following the launch of the Bungie 30th Anniversary update, the Magnum from Halo is now available as an exotic sidearm in Destiny 2, albeit under a different name.

Even better, it's available to everyone, not just those who shelled out for the $25/£21.99 anniversary pack. One exotic that is restricted to the paid package is a certain infamous rocket launcher. If you spent the extra, here's how to get Gjallarhorn in Destiny 2, and the Eyasluna hand cannon.

When it comes to Forerunner, this isn't the most grinding you'll have done for an exotic, but there are some tricky steps and platforming sections you may be having trouble with, including how best to acquire Destiny 2's Strange Coin. For that and more, find out how to get Halo's Magnum in Destiny 2 below.

How to start the Destiny 2 Magnum Opus quest

When you first log in to the game after the 30th anniversary update, you'll be thrust into Destiny 2's new game mode, Dares of Eternity. It's a six-player, Trials of the Nine-themed activity in which you defeat enemies and interact with the Wheel of Adversity, with which you'll select your next foe. It's important for both finishing the exotic quest as efficiently as possible and to impress Starhorse, a horse made of stars. Yes, you read that right.

Anyway, once you've had your first go, you'll get an objective directing you to speak to a certain "snake-faced bastard" in Xur's Treasure Horde. In his menu select the Destiny 2 Magnum Opus quest. Your first quest step is to get seven Strange Coins, which you can do in several ways, but the quickest is to do it by completing Dares of Eternity runs.

Then you need to tick off three Starhorse bounties. They're pretty simple (especially the dailies) as long as you focus on them during Dares runs, but just bear in mind the bounty must be completed in a single run; your progress resets to zero if you don't. Also, note that you can only hold one Starhorse bounty at a time.

Destiny 2 Strange Key: How to get and use it

Now return to Xur and claim the Strange Key. It's free, but you'll need to be at least Strange Favor reputation level 4. You should be there after the Dares gameplay you've done already, but if not, head get grinding until you're there.

Next is where things get a little tricksy. Start by saying adios to Xur, and making a 180-degree turn. Make a beeline for the area after the connecting treasure room and stroll into the purple smoke—this takes you into the Dares arena.

Now you need to follow your HUD markers to get you to the place at which you use the Destiny 2 Strange Key. If at any point you get stuck with the following directions, check out the gif above and video below.

So, the markers might pop in and out a bit for you and just generally be a bit finicky, but essentially you need to bear right and look for a small cluster of rocks—the one you're looking for has a small slab sticking out the top. When you're close to that you can interact with it with your key. You'll know it's worked when you get the prompt: "A barrier lowers somewhere up ahead..."

Make another 180 and head to the new marker just to the right of a grey tower in the distance. You should be directed to a cave partly blocked by some rubble into which you'll need to jump. Then you'll need to do some more jumping, but this time on some strange floating bronze balls. Try to jump and stay on one until you're able to jump again on to the next surface.

Once you're high enough to get a glimpse of some white mountains, jump towards the sheer cliff face towards some bronze platforms emerging from it. From there, bear left through another cave-like crevice. Next there are more platforms, but this time they move in and out to a certain rhythm. Once you've progressed through that you need to investigate the cryo pod. Get that reference, Halo fans?

Doing that gives you the Anomalous Object, which you can give to Banshee-44 in exchange for Forerunner.

Destiny 2 Forerunner perks, and how to get the exotic catalyst

Forerunner is an exotic sidearm that uses special ammo. Here are it's perks:

• Pace Yourself: Tapping the trigger gives this weapon less recoil and improves accuracy.
• Full Stop: Deals massively increased precision damage to unshielded targets.

To get the Forerunner catalyst, you need to reach rank 16 reputation with Xur. Once fully upgraded by killing a bunch of enemies with Forerunner—Altars of Sorrow on the Moon is a good place for this—the catalyst grants the following additional perk:

• The Rock: For several seconds after a final blow, consume part of your ammo reserves, converting your next thrown grenade into a fragmentation grenade from Halo.

• Where is Xur: Find Destiny 2's exotics dealer is this week.
• Destiny 2: The Witch Queen review: The best expansion yet.